| LED Digest 2478: User Generated Content |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.GetWebContent.com/LED : the LED's Key Sponsor The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. August 24, 2007 Issue no. 2478 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ==== CONTINUING ================= --== Who's Editing the Wikipedia ==-- ~ Veronica Yuill "...just to see the other side of the coin, this article is an interesting read..." ~ Scott Smith "Wikipedia is a great starting point for research, not the final destination." ~ Ron Coble "...there are probably thousands of individuals with their own agenda's who are editing the content..." ~ Amy D. Moore "All publications are written with some bias..." --== Recommended Web Awards? ==-- ~ Doug Burt "Try the Webby Awards..." ~ Frank Zipperer "I have used these two for years and believe them to be widely known." <Moderator Comment> --== LED Tagline Suggestions ==-- ~ Tom Anson "I don't think I realized what LED stood for until this discussion arose." ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Veronica Yuill Subject: Wikipedia > Everyone knows... that Wikipedia.com is not a very > reliable source for factual information... It's fun to > play with WikiScanner.virgil.gr - Michael Linehan, LED Digest 2477 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1888/190/ It is interesting to see who's been editing wikipedia articles, but just to see the other side of the coin, this article is an interesting read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Errors_in_the_Encyclopedia... I'm not intending to suggest that wikipedia is somehow "better" than the renowned EB, but it demonstrates that *any* encycolpedia can have errors, so if you are relying on the information you find there, you should cross-check your facts, whatever source you are using. I don't allow students on the online course I teach to use wikipedia as their principal source, but I do recommend they use it to get a quick overview of a topic plus links to further resources. It can be illuminating to read the History or Discussion pages on wikipedia entries; they show just how much effort unpaid volunteers put in to monitor and attempt to eliminate misleading or self-interested information. Regards Veronica Yuill http://www.larecettedujour.org -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Scott Smith Subject: User Generated Content & Wikicrapia Wikipedia is a great starting point for research, not the final destination. Think of the answers you would get if you dropped by your local pub and asked "What can you tell me about George Bush / racoons / czech beer etc?". You'd get a wide variety of opinions, stated with passion and confidence, but also random amounts of accuracy and bias. My daughter recently wrote a report for school and listed Wikipedia as one of her sources, which earned her an hour-long lecture from me on the evils of the Interent (ie. stupid people have just as much access to a keyboard as anyone else). After getting a broad overview of the subject you're looking for, PLEASE follow up with sites that are written by experts in the field. Take care! Scott Smith Globi Web Solutions www.globi.ca -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Ron Coble Subject: Wikipedia This is not meant to be critical of Michael's take on Wikipedia, but beyond the corporate and governmental interests he cited, there are probably thousands of individuals with their own agenda's who are editing the content such as the "many" conspiracy theorists who find evil lurking around every corner. From the moment I learned Wiki could be edited by anyone, it immediately lost "any" credibility with me and what bothers me the most is how highly educated people (like my Chemical Engineer son-in-law) quotes information he found in Wiki as being the know all end all. That I find 'very' disturbing and now that Google seems to have elevated it to top ranking positions, it tends to fool even more people into believing it is the gospel. Ron Coble Coble International - International Marketing Services http://www.ImportExportHelp.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Amy D. Moore Subject: Wikipedia Michael points out the commonly purported reasons why Wikipedia is not a reliable source for information. This comes up in every ethics discussion I have over user edited content with my college students. All their other instructors tell them this same thing. And yet, the only way incorrect things have never been published about you and your business is because you have yet to make your local paper! I ask my students when they tout this popular anti-Wikipedia theme "How accurate can a printed encyclopedia or text book or other 'factual' book be if it is edited by white, male, Protestant, middle / upper class people? Does the requirement for publication needing to be "commercially viable" make it more reliable than something edited by users? As fast as Microsoft edits the Apple entry, Apple users monitor and edit back. If you've ever participated in building Wikipedia you wouldn't buy into the media blitz of how "bad" it is. Wikipedia is an excellent starting point for research. ANYONE can look on Wikipedia and follow the citations for new entries. When you edit Wikipedia it is very easy to track changes to entries of interest to you. I've edited Wikipedia myself. I was the first to announce Springfield, Vermont was the "real" Simpsons Springfield (and yes, that has been edited many times since my first entry). I have a photo of Ruffed Grouse eggs on there. I updated Rachel Carson's list of publications (I owned a book that wasn't on the list when I looked her up). I also edited the entry for "Trunnion" because it is also a part of a bulldozer (among the other applications the entry mentioned before I edited it). Michael points out eight entries of questionable integrity (which I'm sure were 'fixed' long before the article he read was published). That compares to nearly 2 million articles in English alone. All publications are written with some bias regardless of whether they are on paper or virtual. I find it hard to believe there is a print resource that is as objective or accurate as Wikipedia *because* of user oversight. Before you bash Wikipedia, be a part of making it better. If you aren't part of the solution - you're part of the problem. Amy D. Moore http://InternetSupportService.com Internet, Database, Multimedia since 1996 ============ Sponsor Message =========== Blogging can improve your site's ranking with both search engines and end users. Now, would you like us to tell you something you maybe don't already know? OK. A blog shouldn't be written like other web content. Here's why. http://www.getwebcontent.com/blog/?p=16 http://GetWebContent.com/LED : Blogging are us. ============ Sponsor Message =========== -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Doug Burt Subject: Web awards > Could anyone recommend any respectable > web awards or ways that I could find them? > I'm looking for web awards that are renowned. - Renee Kennedy, LED Digest 2477 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1888/190/ Hey Renee, Try the Webby Awards, been around for a number of years now, well recognized in the industry... http://www.webbyawards.com/ Cheers, Doug Burt devroMEDIA.com -------- new post - same topic -------- From: Frank Zipperer Subject: Web awards Renee, I have used these two for years and believe them to be widely known. I'm not really too sure what they do for you, but seemed like a good idea to have a few. http://www.aawebmasters.com/ http://www.artspace2000.com/ Best regards, Frank Frank Zipperer Photography Website: www.FZippererPhoto.com Blog: http://fzippererphoto.blogspot.com <Moderator Comment> We should also mention the Web Marketing Association WebAwards. William Rice often posts the annual call for entries here on the list. You can find more here: www.2007webaward.org. -Adam -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Tom Anson Subject: LED Hi fellow LEDers, When considering a name change for LED Digest, I think I'd have to agree with Jacob Flanagin (LED Digest 2473 http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1884/190/ ) that, to be quite honest, I don't think I realized what LED stood for until this discussion arose. I guess I go back far enough to have been a member of the old Link Exchange; but, over the years, while I remembered the origins (when I took the trouble to think about it), I never connected LED with anything in particular. It was just the best discussion forum I've found -- pure and simple. And THAT is what mattered. For me (and I readily admit that I'm a bit out-of-touch, and should only be listened to with caution), worrying about coming up with a new meaning for LED seems pointless and silly. Yes, there is the element of Lunacy Every Day, and Link Exchange Digest Digest IS rather stupid (it reminds me of the movie Mickey Blue Eyes and the restaurant The La Tratavia -- or whatever); but really, who pays that much attention to this? And if it really matters to anyone, do we REALLY want to change things to accommodate his/her not having a life?!? As Michael Linehan remarks, consideration should be on what the best name is for building the organization LED wants to exist five years from now. For that, AMD might be fine. But, given its exalted history, is AMD really a better name than LED? I don't think so. If nothing else, LED has shed more LIGHT on the business of internet marketing / SEO than any other source I've seen. (AMD just makes me think of that giant agri-business monster.) IMHO, this is an okay topic to have some fun with, but let's keep it a silly diversion. I'd vote for LED Digest any day. Tom Anson NingXia Red -- which has also gone through a name change http://www.therapeutic-grade.com/products/supplements/ningxiaRed.html ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by: GetWebContent.com The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. 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